Pensacola is a city, seat of Escambia County, extreme northwestern Florida, on Pensacola Bay (an arm of the Gulf of Mexico); incorporated 1822. It is a commercial, manufacturing, and military center, with an excellent deepwater harbor (protected by Santa Rosa Island). Products consist of textiles, clothing, carpets, paper products, constructing materials, nuclear reactors, and chemicals. Pensacola Naval Air Station (1914) and also other U.S. Navy installations are major contributors to the economy. Fishing boats are also based here, and the city serves as a gateway to Gulf Islands National Seashore as well as other tourist destinations. Within Pensacola are the University of West Florida (1963), a large junior college, and art and historical museums.
The site of Pensacola, which was briefly inhabited (1559-61) by Spaniards, was permanently settled by the Spanish during 1698. It was held (1719-22) by the French, was then came back to Spanish control, and passed to the British in 1763. It once more became a Spanish control in 1783. The city served as the capital of British, then Spanish, West Florida and was used by the British as a base during the War of 1812. In 1814 it was seized for the United States by Andrew Jackson, who seized it again in 1818 after it had been returned to Spain. Pensacola formally handed down to the U.S. in 1821 along with the rest of Florida. During the American Civil War, Union forces attained control (1862) of the city. The primary economic growth of Pensacola started in the late 19th century and accelerated during the early twentieth century. The city's name is most likely of Native American origin, possibly that means "long-haired people."
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